[UPDATED]
SOUTH END/ROXBURY — Bill Brett was stopped along Mass. Avenue near Washington Street the other night at dusk when he took this photograph of the old Alexandra Hotel, a gothic style building that people have watched for years wondering how it will be redeveloped.
The Boston Globe’s Dan Adams wrote about a new sale in a story that was published on Aug. 1, 2017.
The Boston Globe reported on this building’s status in 2015 with a story about what the owners, the Church of Scientology, planned for the historic property. The church had hoped to use it as their headquarters, according to published reports. They moved from the Back Bay to Quincy and then looked to move to Allston, putting this former hotel on Washington Street on the market.
While the real estate dealings are interesting, the real story is in the building’s history. In true Boston tradition, the building’s neighbors talk about the businesses that used to be there, including Skippy White’s famed record store (Google that term, kids) and a hair supply store.
Skippy White was moved to the old hotel by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 1968 as part of a plan to redevelop the area. The Jamaica Plain News spoke with White in an interview that covered the Boston music scene as well as the history of Boston’s neighborhood.
The South End Patch did a history of the Alexandra Hotel property in 2011 that still provides some insight into the storied corner.
We found this historic photo from Historic New England that was taken at the turn of the last century.
